Refrigerator



c. H. NAUER-r REFRIGERATOR Filedl aan. 12, 1940` 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec.2, 1941. c. H. NAUERT.

REFRIGERATOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Llecl Jan. l2, 1940 l Patented Dec. 2 1941carl n. Nauen, Evansville, nul., assigner to Servei, Inc., New York, N.Y.a corporation of Delaware Application January 12, 1940, serial No.313,627 I (cl. .2o-35) 7 Claims.

This invention relates to refrigerators and is particularly concernedwith the construction of refrigerator cabinets.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved type of marginalwall construction and coacting molding or breaker vstrip assembly forthe space between the marginal portions or edges of the outer and innershells or wallsvof a'refrigerator cabinet resulting in economy inmaterials and expedition of the assembling operation, while at the sametime maintaining a neat and attractive exterior appearance'and stabilityand rigidity of construction without the use of the conventional wood oranalogous framework. The invention is particularly applicable to doorsfor refrigerator cabinets, and is illustrated and described in suchembodiment herein.

'back portion Ia terminating inan outturned edge or flange I2b. Breakerstrip retaining members I3 are provided and may be in the form of springmetal clips having a portion thereofv secured, as by spot welding, tothe inner side of the strip I2 and a nger or prong |30 projectingoutwardly into the space between the iianges Ib y and i217. 'I'hisportion I3a constitutes in effect a.

` resilient prong to which a breaker strip It is con- The foregoing andother objects and advantages will become apparent in view of thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the drawings, wherein: y

Fig. 1 is a view in front elevation of a refrig- "erator oi' thedomestic or household type with the Referring to the drawings in detailand first v to Figs. 1 to 4 inclusivev a refrigerator cabinet isgenerally indicated at A and is provided with a door D affording accessto the food compartment C.

The improved breaker strip or molding assembly constituting the featuresof the present lnvention is shown herein applied to the door D, thelatter having an outer wall or shell I@ with a marginal edge portion Iaterminating in an inturned flange ith, ,and an inner shell or door panIi terminating in an lnturned flange IIa.

'The walls III and Ii are spaced apart to receive insulation material ofany suitable type therebetween.

The molding or breaker strip assembly includes one or more reinforcingmembers inthe `form of a metal molding strip or strips I2 which aresecured as by spot welding to the outer wall or shell III and are eachformed with a doubled the food compartment and the exterior of thecabinet when the door is closed.

One method of assembling is to first spot weld the retaining clips tothe strips I2, and'then spot weld the strips I2 to the inner side of theshell III.4 Insulation material may then be in# serted in the spacebetween the` outer shell ill and door pan or inner shell II, and thebreaker strip Hi and gasket IS mounted and secured in position by screwsI5. Corner plates or trim I8 may then be applied to the'outer and innerwall members I 0 and II by means of screws I9 to hold the wall membersin structurally spaced apart relation and to complete the assembling'operation. y

With the use of this type of breaker strip assembly the necessity ofemploying framework around the door or the door opening is avoided.

The breaker strips I5 are formed of a material having poor thermalconductivity such as, for example,V the material commercially known asBakelite Fig. 5 shows a construction substantially similar to thatillustrated in Fig. 4 with the exception that the breaker strip I4 isconnected to the projections or prongs Isa of the members I3 in aquick-detachable manner by means of fasteners 20 of the push type,thereby expediting the assembling operation. In this ligure partscorresponding to those illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive are givencorresponding reference numerals.

In Fig. 6 the breaker strip or molding retaining clips indicated at I3'are .sprung" into engagement with the reinforcing molding strips I2, theclips I 3 each being provided with a bowed spring leg |30 tending tomaintain the clips in place.

l receive insulation therebetween, a cover strip to which the outer endsof breaker strip or moldattaching clips l2! are pivotally connected asby rivets 22. During the first part of the assembling operation, theclips are turned to the dotted line position shown at the right of Fig.7, and after the insulation has been applied, the clips are moved to thefull line position, at which point they engage in back of the edge Ila'of the door` pan Il'. The breaker strip Il may be then ,applied by meansof screws i5, the said breaker strip and clips being drawn togetherunder tension. The gasket I 6a' is formed with a lip lib' which engagesin back of the breaker strip I4' in a manner similar to the constructionshown in Fig. 6. The assembly shown in Fig. 'I results in theelimination of a number o! parts as well as all spot welding operations.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that certain changes inconstruction and design may be adopted without departing from the memberoverlying said edge portions, attaching means for resiliently holdingsaid strip member over said edge portions, one end of said attachingmeans being secured to a portion of one of said walls, the other end ofsaid attaching means comprising a resilient arm portion adapted toproject into the space between said edge portions, and means connectingsaid strip to said arm portion,A said arm portion being adapted toresiliently urge said cover strip inwardly and to hold it underftensionagainst said edge portions.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said attaching means is pivotallyconnected to said wall member, whereby said attaching means may besidewardly pivoted to permit the admission of insulation batting betweensaid wall members.

5. 'Ihe combination of claim 3 wherein said t attaching means isresiliently held under tension scope or spirit of the invention as denedby the 1 appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a refrigerator, a cabinet having inner and outer insulated wallsterminating in marginal edge portions provided with spaced inturnedilanges, a metallic reinforcing strip of generally U-shaped contour incross section connected to the marginal edge portion of the outer walland having a iiange projected towards the inturned flange of theopposing wall, breaker strip attaching members consisting of springmetal clips each having a substantially U-shaped portion adapted toengage under tension in the said reinforcing stripand a spring legprojecting beyond the flange of said latter strip, and a breaker stripconnected to said spring legs.

2. In a refrigerator, a cabinet having inner and outer insulated wallsterminating in marginal edge portions provided With spaced inturnedflanges, breaker or molding strip attaching means in the form of springmetal strips each having one end pivotally connected to the flange ofone of said walls and its opposite end adapted to in said portion of oneof said walls.

6. In a refrigerator cabinet, inner and outer wall members having spacedapart marginal edges, said walls being adapted to receive insulationtherebetween, a reinforcing strip connected to one of said wall membersadiacent its marginal edge, said reinforcing strip being provided withan inwardly disposed channel portion and a ilange portion projectingtoward the other o! said wall members, a cover strip member overlyingsaid ange portion and the marginal edge of said other wall member,attaching means for resiliently holding said cover strip member oversaid j ange portion and said marginal edge portion, one end of saidattaching means being connected

